Brigid Slipka

A couple years ago, I read Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save, in which he described step by step how we have a moral and ethical obligation to give just 5% of our money away to the desperately poor around the world.  To which I thought:  Bingo.  Of course.  Absolutely.

And here’s what I went and did:  Nuthin’.

For five years I’ve worked as a fundraiser, every day soliciting and persuading and cajoling others to give back, give up, give away.

And this is what I’d do when I left work:  Nuthin’.

Everyday in my news feed I see folks in the philanthropy world debating the best nonprofits to support and fellow fundraisers offering strategies on how to garner more support.  I take all these suggestions to heart, affirming to myself that yes, giving is so critical right now.

This is what I’ve actually done about it:  Nuthin’.

Here’s a fun fact! I just calculated the Percent of Income Given (which henceforth shall be known as PIG!) by me last year.  Disturbingly, the relevant numbers were to the RIGHT of the decimal point.

Ouch.

A few different words can be used to describe me right now.  “Weak-willed” and “insipid” are strong contenders.  “Pathetic” is up there, too.

(I’ve a sneaking suspicion another word is relevant here, too, but since said suspicion is sneaking, I thought it best to hide this particular word at the end of a rambling sentence blanketed by parentheses are-you-ready-for-it-here-goes: “normal.”)

Clearly, very persuasive arguments and years of contemplation are not doing the trick when it comes to jump-starting my philanthropic behavior.  But!  I got a great idea on what might.

The judgmental power of anonymous cyberworld citizens.

Yes, Dear Internet, I grace thee with a new blog.  Starting small and starting gimmicky but with audacious aims to change how much all of us, especially me, Actually Gives.  Or at least knock that PIG! decimal into the right spot.

And now, the gimmick:  Starting Wednesday Feb. 17, I’ll be giving away Me Own Dollars, blogging about it here, every day, for 40 days.

Sounds more exciting than homemade toddler mudpies, I know, I know.  But hold yourself together.  The fun’s only just beginning.